gombeen
[ gom-been ]
Origin of gombeen
11860–65; <Irish gaimbín interest, especially exorbitant interest, literally, bit, small piece, diminutive of gamba lump, hunk
Words Nearby gombeen
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use gombeen in a sentence
gombeen man; a usurer who lends money to small farmers and others of like means, at ruinous interest.
English As We Speak It in Ireland | P. W. JoyceFor the name of this grisly and terribly real spectre is gombeen; which, in the Irish tongue, signifies usury.
Disturbed Ireland | Bernard H. BeckerThis poor innocent was charging just 60 per cent., but his terms were lavishly liberal as compared with those of the gombeen man.
Disturbed Ireland | Bernard H. BeckerAt Burtonport we found the “gombeen man,” of Dungloe, represented by a very large “store.”
Ireland Under Coercion (2nd ed.) (1 of 2) (1888) | William Henry HurlbertThe priest and the “gombeen man” deal with them on the old principle of “freedom of contract.”
Ireland Under Coercion (2nd ed.) (1 of 2) (1888) | William Henry Hurlbert
Browse